


Loss of voice, hostages, learning to be loved

by chainocommand



Category: Marvel, Marvel 616, The Avengers - All Fandoms
Genre: Competition, Declarations Of Love, Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-10
Updated: 2012-09-10
Packaged: 2017-11-13 23:43:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/509049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chainocommand/pseuds/chainocommand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And another prompt fic!</p><p>Tony gets gets ill and Pepper misses something she never thought she would - Tony's ability to speak. Steve plays nursemaid before Pepper throttles Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loss of voice, hostages, learning to be loved

Tony was thirty-four when he was abducted. Billionaire, genius playboy, he hadn’t quite earned his philanthropist stripes yet, but he made up for it later.

He was thirty-seven when he met Steve. That was twenty-two years of engrained sexual relationship experience. Two decades of being sleeping with him because he was Tony Stark. Twelve years of people sleeping with him because he was Tony Stark, playboy, which was slightly better than because he was Tony Stark, billionaire. Playboy billionaire, but still, he was getting laid so he wasn’t complaining.

‘Learning to be loved’, now that was a new concept for Tony. Pepper went on at him for years about having a healthy, well rounded relationship with any of the people he slept with. After a while she stopped asking for a healthy, well rounded relationship, and just encouraged him to have a ‘relationship’ with any of them. At first, she thought he could make a relationship last a year. Then a month. A week. One day, Tony, one _day._ But Tony seemed to enjoy being able to shock her with how short he could make them last.

Then Cap came along. Sodding Captain America, Steven Rogers. _Steve._ Steve was the American Hero. The real one, it wasn’t just a saying with him.

Pepper liked him, thought he might be a good influence on Tony. Tony tried desperately to be a bad influence on him, but it didn’t matter how many strippers, porn stars, ‘liberated females’, aspiring actors, all of either gender, Tony pushed at him (on him when Steve was sat down) it didn’t work. First of all, Steve was too polite and ended up helping them into taxis after getting them some ‘warmer clothes’. And then there was the old ‘I’m old enough to be your grandfather’/ ‘you were my favourite action figure as a kid’ conversation that kept coming up.

So, Pepper nagged Tony, Tony nagged Steve, and Steve took it with gentlemanly grace.

Until the day Tony lost his voice.

‘I never thought I’d say this,’ said Pepper, her arms folded over her chest as she and Steve stood in Tony’s bedroom doorway, watching the inventor as he sat in bed, ‘but I wish Tony hadn’t lost his voice.’

Tony rang the bell next to the bed.

‘Who gave him that?’

‘Clint, I think,’ said Steve. Realising he might have dropped the archer in it, he said, ‘it was meant to be a joke.’

‘I’m not laughing,’ said Pepper grimly.

Tony rang the bell again, and kept ringing it until Pepper walked over and slammed her hand over it. ‘Stop it!’ she hissed.

Tony smiled at her and texted something on his phone.

Pepper’s mobile rang. She glared at Tony and pulled her phone out of her pocket to read the text. She sighed and looked annoyed at Tony, ‘you texted me to say you want some water?’

Tony typed something else.

Pepper read the new text, ‘I know you have a sore throat and you lost your voice. This is a waste of money, Tony!’

Tony typed again.

‘You don’t need to send me our quarterly profits, I get the point!’ Pepper griped. She took the phone from him and slammed it into Steve’s chest as she passed him. ‘And if you’re going to type, you can at least say please!’ she called out as she strode down the corridor radiating Tony-induced irritation.

Tony gave Steve a look.

‘She’s not being unreasonable, and you shouldn’t be so pleased with yourself,’ said Steve. ‘This game you have with Clint about who can make Pepper angry the fastest is childish; it will end in tragedy, mark my words.’

Tony rolled his eyes, which Steve took as, “consider them marked,” writing a new time on the small chalkboard by his bed, under his name. His time was considerably less than Clint, and a few seconds off the time before. Tony replaced the blackboard carefully where Pepper couldn’t find it and brain him with it.

Tony held out his glass and Steve took it, filling it with water from the bathroom tap and taking it and Tony the cough syrup. Tony pulled a face and shook his head violently.

‘Don’t be a baby,’ said Steve, ‘it will help your throat.’

Tony pursed his lips and leant away from Steve until he was nearly horizontal.

‘I will get in that bed with you if that’s what it takes to get this down your throat,’ Steve warned.

Tony flicked his eyebrows suggestively and patted the next bed to him, kissing the air.

‘Come here,’ said Steve, trying not to find Tony funny. He grabbed the older man’s ankle through the bed covers and pulled him to the edge of the bed, trapping Tony’s legs with his own when they fell over the side of the bed. He uncapped the bottle of cough syrup and poured some into a spoon. ‘Here you go.’

Tony sat there looking petulant with his mouth firmly closed.

‘I was in World War Two, Tony, you don’t want to know the ways I can make you take this,’ said Steve, holding Tony’s gaze.

Tony sighed and opened his mouth, wincing when Steve shoved the spoon in his mouth so hard it hit his back teeth before Tony could shut his mouth again. He glared at Steve who smiled back, having had to do this three times a day for the last four days since Tony got ill.

Steve’s phone bleeped while he was in the bathroom putting the cough syrup away. ‘I know you hate me, Tony, you send me the same text every time you have cough syrup.’ His phone bleeped again and he laughed. ‘Reiterate it if it makes you feel better,’ he said, leaning against the doorframe to smile at Tony who was back to being petulant.

Text bleep. ‘You were not treated better when you were a hostage, Tony, stop being melodramatic.’

Text bleep. ‘This is very annoying, Tony. And no you weren’t.’

Text bleep. ‘No, you- this is inane, I’m not having this conversation with you. At least this way I can turn you off.’ Steve walked out the room, ducking at Tony retaliated by throwing a pillow at him which hit the wall instead. ‘Get some sleep, Tony.’

Text bleep. ‘That’s not nice, Tony. You really should be nicer to people, Tony, it makes you much more lovable!’ he said as he walked down the corridor.

Text bleep. _Nobody loves me._

_I do._


End file.
